HOCKEY

HOCKEY;Devils Acquire Jocelyn Lemieux From Whalers

By ALEX YANNIS

Published: December 21, 1995

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 20—
The Devils had been trying to trade for a scorer to solve their lack of goal production, but instead they traded a player with 4 goals in 28 games for a player with 1 goal in 29 games.

The Devils acquired wing Jocelyn Lemieux and a second-round pick in the 1998 draft from Hartford for center/wing Jimmy Dowd and a second-round draft choice in 1997. The deal came within days of the deadline for freezing rosters for seven days, which starts at midnight next Tuesday.

Hartford immediately turned around and sent Dowd and defenseman Frantisek Kucera to Vancouver for defenseman Jeff Brown and an exchange of draft selections. Dowd found out about the trade shortly after the Devils' 5-4 overtime triumph over the Flyers that ended a three-game losing streak Tuesday night.

The 26-year-old Dowd, who had four goals and nine assists, including one in the victory over the Flyers, is from Brick, N.J., and was the only native of New Jersey to play for the Devils. Drafted in the seventh round in 1987, Dowd was in his fifth season with the Devils after spending four years at Lake Superior State, where he helped to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament championship.

Dowd was becoming popular with the fans at Byrne Meadowlands Arena, but he rarely earned any praise from Coach Jacques Lemaire. Like Corey Millen, who was traded to Dallas, Dowd's play, despite his defensive attributes, never captured the coach's fancy.

Lou Lamoriello, the president and general manager of the Devils, said the reason for the trade was "to add size and strength to the left side" of the attack, but the numbers don't substantiate Lamoriello's reasoning for trading the 26-year-old Dowd for the 28-year-old Lemieux, who is the younger brother of Claude Lemieux.

Although Jocelyn Lemieux weighs 200 pounds, which is 10 pounds more than Dowd, he is three inches shorter and his defensive game is not anywhere near Dowd's. Lemieux has a minus rating of 12, the second worst on Hartford, while Dowd is a minus 1, which means he has been on the ice for one more goal against the Devils.

Dowd had an even rating in the overtime victory over the Flyers Tuesday. He made the pass to Randy McKay that tied the score at 3-3 late in the second, but he was on the ice when Mike Renberg of the Flyers opened the scoring just 44 seconds after the opening face-off.

Billy Guerin's second goal of the night, 2 minutes 13 seconds into the overtime, gave the Devils the victory when his shot from the right side was deflected past Ron Hextall off the leg of Flyers defenseman Chris Therien.

The Devils also got a huge break on Petr Sykora's goal that tied the score at 4-4 with 3:21 left in regulation, when the puck went behind Hextall after Therien's clearing attempt hit Sykora's skate.

"Finally," Lemaire said when someone suggested that the breaks went the Devils' way. "We've been working hard the last three games and it finally paid off."

The victory was the third in three games against the Flyers this season for the Devils (14-16-3). The first two came in a home-and-home series Nov. 11-12 following a stretch of one victory in seven games. This time, the Flyers proved to be the antidote again to another stretch of just a victory in seven games.

SLAP SHOTS

The Devils said the newly acquired JOCELYN LEMIEUX was scheduled to meet the team in Florida on Wednesday night and was expected to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.